Niagara’s top teams of 2018: Brock wrestling; Eden volleyball; Warriors basketball; Saint Paul and Thorold football;
For as long as I have been writing year-end columns about the top sporting events in Niagara, the Eden senior boys volleyball squad and the Brock University wrestling teams have topped the lists of the top teams of the year.
This year is no exception. The two above teams are also joined by a number of other top performers listed below.
BROCK WRESTLING
Brock’s wrestling teams started their run to the national championships in impressive fashion with the men capturing their 21st Ontario University Athletics title and the women their 18th overall OUA crown.
They did it in dominating fashion. Brock qualified a school record 18 wrestlers for the finals and then set an OUA record with 16 gold medals.
“It was great performance for us this weekend,” Brock head coach Marty Calder said. “The biggest thing for us, without divulging too much, is that it was two weeks of challenges.
“The team knows what we had to face and it made us stronger.”
Calder said the main challenge was overcoming injuries.
“It really is just a stepping stone,” said Calder, who was named the OUA women’s coach of the year. “Our goal is to win a national championship and whether it’s their third, second or first time, they are going and they are prepared to do well.”
Winning gold for Brock on the men’s side were: Sam Jagas (57 kilograms), Lingrit Sadiku (61 kilograms), Mizam Tamaradze (65 kilograms), Matt Jagas (68 kilograms), Cruiz Manning (72 kilograms), Tyler Rowe (76 kilograms), Ty Bridgewater (82 kilograms), Clayton Pye (90 kilograms) and Richard DesChatelets (120 kilograms). Ignatius Pitt won silver for Brock at 100 kilograms and Kingston Wong took bronze at 54 kilograms.
Winning gold for Brock on the women’s side were Samantha Romano (48 kilograms), St. Catharines native Kristina McLaren (51 kilograms), Emily Schaefer (55 kilograms), Hannah Taylor (59 kilograms), Jessica Brouillette (63 kilograms), Indira Moores (67 kilograms) and Skylar Grote (72 kilograms). Garnering a silver medal at 82 kilograms was Darrion Sterling.
Brock followed it up with another great showing at the U SPORTS wrestling championships in Sault Ste. Marie.
Brock’s women won their seventh straight national title and eighth overall crown, Brock’s men won their fifth straight crown and 18th overall, and Brock notched its fifth straight combined team title. Individually, the Badgers won 10 gold medals and 18 medals overall.
“I love winning and so does my team,” Calder said. “We put a lot of work in over the season. We knew we were going to be tested this weekend, but we had this goal in our minds to win both titles and I think our team was unbelievable.”
Including its first championship in 1992, Brock has won 37 Ontario University Athletics crowns and 26 national titles.
Performing well on the women’s side were: Brouillette, who won her fourth national title at 63 kilograms; McLaren (51 kilograms) and Schaefer (55 kilograms), winning their third national titles; Taylor (59 kilograms) and Grote (72 kilograms), capturing their first national titles; Romano (48 kilograms) and Moores (67 kilograms), earning silver; and, Sterling (82 kilograms), garnering bronze.
On the men’s side: Sam Jagas (57 kilograms) and Rowe (57 kilograms) ended their Brock careers with gold medals; Sadiku (61 kilograms), Manning (72 kilograms) and Pye (90 kilograms) struck gold; Matt Jagas (68 kilograms), Bridgewater (82 kilograms) and DesChatelets (120 kilograms) mined silver; and, Mizam Tamaradze (65 kilograms) and Ignatius Pitt (110 kilograms), mined bronze.
EDEN FLYERS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
No one had bigger shoes to fill than Bill Markham taking over from Albino Pereira as the head coach of the Eden Flyers senior boys volleyball team.
After serving as an assistant for seven years under the legendary Pereira, Markham guided the Flyers to an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association bronze medal in his first year as head coach in 2016. Eden won silver in 2017 before capturing the gold medal in 2018 at the OFSAA AA championships in Sydenham.
“We’re getting better every year,” Markham said, with a laugh. “For me, it’s more about for the program to believe. You can’t replace Albino as coach — he’s one of a generation — and my biggest hope for the program was to be able to continue the same mindset, culture and legacy.”
Mission accomplished.
“For us winning, it’s proof that it is possible even in a post-Albino era,” Markham said.
He feels the OFSAA gold wasn’t about him, but he took great satisfaction in sharing the moment with his players.
“It’s a very special moment and very few people ever get to experience it.”
In describing the Eden volleyball culture, Markham points to a commitment of excellence.
“With that, there’s a high degree of accountability when you come into this program that the expectation is higher,” he said. “You practise more, you practise harder and the truth is there are kids who did not start with us who would probably be starters on almost any other high school team.”
Members of the team were Josiah Esau, Samuel Pearson, Ethan Maroudas, Nick Lampman, David Reimer, Matthew Gay, Leighton Friesen, Ashton Nieuwets, Ethan Mewhinney, Joshua Robins, Cole Duncanson, Daniel Ridings, Kersey Robinson and Peter Pilling. Markham is assisted by Pereira and Kyle Steele.
WELLAND WARRIORS UNDER-14 GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Welland Warriors under-14 girls basketball team was on a mission since last winter when it heard the winner of the Basketball Ontario Division 1 championships would represent Ontario at the U14 Jr. NBA Canadian Championships in St. Catharines.
Welland did just that and then advanced to the U14 World Jr. NBA Championships in Orlando Fla., by defeating British Columbia 56-53 in the Canadian final.
“For as long as I have played ball and coached in club basketball, there has never been, that I know of, a true national championship,” Welland head coach Dave Picton said. “They are now going to play China, Europe, a team from Mexico, South America and Africa. What an experience for these kids just to play kids their own age that are in Junior NBA programs all around the world.”
At the world championships, Welland went 3-0 in pool play, including 63-20 over Mexico, 65-44 over China, and 72-63 over Africa. The Warriors then blasted South America in the quarter-finals before losing to Australia in the semifinals.
The majority of the Welland team had been together since the under-nine division. Members of the team won OBA (Basketball Ontario) silver in Division 1 as an under-10 team and then won gold as an under-11 squad. They played up a level at both under-12 and under-13, winning bronze in Division 2 the first year playing up and fourth in Division 1 last year.
Members of the team were Lara Cook, Gabriella DiPietro, Emma Koabel, Kennedy Millin, Corrynn Parker, Natalie Picton, Jayda Rodrigue, Maya Torigian, Aleksija Vukovic, and Alexis Wright
SAINT PAUL PATRIOTS SENIOR FOOTBALL
The Saint Paul Patriots senior football team looked dead in the water when it opened the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association season with losses to Notre Dame and Denis Morris.
But after a players only meeting and the movement of Jarrel Pappin to fullback, the Patriots reeled off eight straight victories to advance to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ Golden Horseshoe Bowl game in Ottawa.
A season-ending loss did nothing to diminish the accomplishments of the underdog Patriots who defeated Notre Dame in the NCAA final and A.N. Myer in the Niagara final before dumping the Westmount Wildcats 36-23 victory in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association Bowl at Saint Paul.
“We have come a long way from where we started, losing to Notre Dame in Week 1 and Denis Morris in Week 2,” said Patriots player Carlos Calderon following the victory over Westmount. “It really shows that things can change if you show perseverance and all that stuff.”
Calderon never doubted his team had the abilities to win a SOSSA championship.
“I saw the talent we had from Day 1,” he said.”One day we locked the changeroom and started screaming at each other and we said that we had way too much potential to put it to waste.
“From there, everyone started working, coming to practice and things started to click.”
Saint Paul’s championship run almost died in the NCAA semifinal versus the Blessed Trinity Thunder. Trailing 11-9 with 26.1 seconds left in the game and the ball at midfield, the Patriots scored a last-second major to win 15-11. Saint Paul then earned a spot in the Niagara championship game by knocking off the unbeaten and defending Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish 21-7 in the NCAA final.
Saint Paul trailed Myer 21-0 early in the second quarter of the Niagara championship game before rallying for a 24-21 triumph.
Members of the team were Enzey Youyoute, Aidan Chalmers, Noah Choy, Jesse Murphy, Cody Somerville, Will Schmahl, Ryan DiLella, Owen McArthur, Joseph Abbruscato, Devon Schiller-Cleveland, Rielly Sexton, Dylan Paolone, Jemar Graham, Zackary Lundy, Calderon, EthanWatson, Patrick Griffi, Pappin, Jonathan Gill, Alex Do, Kyle Maiden, Ethan Crawford, Nicholas Cristelli, Lucas Devlin, Ryan Danecker, Logan McNeil, Nicholas Abbruscato, Matthew Paul, Aidan Campopiano and Marley McCray.
THOROLD GOLDEN EAGLES SENIOR FOOTBALL
The Thorold Golden Eagles senior football team had a memorable season of its own, capping an unbeaten 8-0 season in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 2 play with a 44-7 victory over the Governor Simcoe Redcoats in the championship game.
Thorold head coach Duane Kemp was thrilled to see his charges rewarded.
“This team deserves this championship,” he said. “They are such a great bunch of kids. They were a joy to teach — polite, hardworking and dedicated.
Kemp was overjoyed for his team.
“They are blue collar and hard working. They work hard and buy in. We are a school of 650 competing against schools of 800-900 plus and showing we can compete.
“It’s a credit to them”
Kemp, who guided the Golden Eagles to a Tier 2 title two years ago, couldn’t have predicted such a memorable campaign.
“Going into season, we weren’t sure what to expect,” he said. “We knew we had some athletes, but our line was a question mark. Our line was smart and made it easy to run behind to them.
“Going undefeated wasn’t the goal, a championship was our goal. Going undefeated was the cherry on top.”
Members of the team were Yvan Canlas, Koby Jeffrey, Mark Suntz, Brodie Gibson, Jacob Brooman, Callum McNamara, Evense Denabe, Carter Lagerstrom, Tyler Broderick, Evan Ferguson, Landon Forster, Kevin Henderson, Shawn Papineau, Michael Boisvert, Matt York, Summer Noganosh, Dapo Babajide, Victor Garcia, Lucas Friesen, Braydon Carson, Julian Race, Michael Sarfo, Kordell Goodman, Joshua Piccolo, Jason Stewart, Cody Seabrook, Jackson Friesen, Jacob Turner, Tyler Lambert, Nolan McNamara, Adam St. Hilaire, Ethan Belward, Riley Davidson, Blake Suntz, Bryce Kaal, Justin Giroux, Grant Lenson, Tyler Reid, Luke Dupelle, Kyle Davidson, Andrew Dailey, Justin Merrick, Aiden Clarke, Jacob Phan, Jackson Skovron, Nick Reid and Caleb Turner.
